1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette, and more particularly, it relates to a reuseable ink ribbon cassette which is capable of accommodating ink ribbons having different widths.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of ribbon cassettes in printers has become quite common. Ribbon cassettes are advantageous because they can be easily installed in and removed from the printer. A problem in the prior art is that the ink ribbons in the ribbon cassettes could not be easily replaced when the ink ribbon was worn out. Also, the ribbon cassettes of the prior art did not permit the ink ribbon to be replaced if, for example, the printer in which the ribbon cassette was going to be used required an ink ribbon which was wider or narrower than the ink ribbon which was originally installed in the ribbon cassette. Thus, a single ribbon cassette could not be used on different printers unless those printers required an ink ribbon having the exact same width. In addition, some printers in the prior art could accommodate ink ribbons having different widths; however, there was no ribbon cassette which permitted the ink ribbon in the ribbon cassette to be easily changed. Consequently, it was necessary to manufacture multiple ribbon cassettes for a single printer.
There is, therefore, a present need to provide a means for replacing an ink ribbon in a ribbon cassette for use in a printer which means is inexpensive, easy to implement, and not time consuming to use.